Textos en inglés C1 con ejercicios (nivel Advanced)

Texto de nivel C1 con preguntas de comprensión que se corrigen solas, vocabulario avanzado y ficha descargable en PDF.

Ficha imprimible

En C1 ya no se te pregunta qué dice el texto: se te pregunta qué actitud tiene quien lo escribe. Ironía, reservas, concesiones fingidas. Este texto está escrito con el registro y la longitud de frase del Cambridge C1 Advanced.

Doce minutos. Y una advertencia: en este nivel, releer la frase entera suele ser más rápido que buscar la palabra suelta.

In defence of doing nothing

There is a peculiar shame attached to idleness in countries that consider themselves industrious. Ask a British or American professional what they did at the weekend and the answer will almost invariably be a list, delivered slightly breathlessly, as though the interval between Friday and Monday were an examination one might fail.

This was not always so. The Victorians, whose reputation for industry is largely deserved, nonetheless built into their week a Sunday so aggressively empty that novels of the period are full of characters going quietly mad in drawing rooms. What has changed is not the amount of work but the disappearance of any socially respectable category of time that is neither work nor the improvement of the self.

The consequences are not merely a matter of tired people, though there are plenty of those. Research into creative problem-solving has repeatedly found that insight tends to arrive during periods of apparent inactivity, when the mind is left to wander without a target. Whether or not one accepts the neuroscience, the anecdotal record is hard to dismiss: remarkably few good ideas have been reported to arrive during a productive morning.

None of which is an argument for indolence as a way of life. It is, rather, an argument for treating unstructured time as a resource with a function rather than as a moral failing to be confessed. Whether a culture that measures its worth in output could ever be persuaded of this is, admittedly, another question entirely.

Comprensión

Ejercicio 1 · Comprensión C1

En C1 casi todas las respuestas son de actitud o de inferencia. Lee las cuatro opciones enteras antes de elegir.

  1. The phrase «delivered slightly breathlessly» suggests the speaker is…exhaustedanxious to justify themselvesphysically unfitAnxious to justify themselves — la falta de aliento aquí es figurada: transmite la ansiedad de tener que rendir cuentas del fin de semana.
  2. What does the writer say about the Victorians?They worked less than we assumeThey deserved their reputation but protected empty timeThey were unhappy peopleThey deserved their reputation but protected empty time — «whose reputation for industry is largely deserved, nonetheless…». Ese nonetheless es la bisagra de la frase.
  3. According to the writer, what has actually changed since then?People work more hoursEmpty time has lost its social respectabilitySociety has become less religiousEmpty time has lost its respectability — «what has changed is not the amount of work but the disappearance of any socially respectable category of time».
  4. How does the writer treat the neuroscience evidence?As conclusive proofAs supporting but not essential to the argumentAs probably mistakenSupporting but not essential — «whether or not one accepts the neuroscience, the anecdotal record is hard to dismiss». Se cubre las espaldas a propósito.
  5. The tone of «remarkably few good ideas have been reported to arrive during a productive morning» is…dryly ironicopenly angrystrictly neutralDryly ironic — la formulación de informe científico aplicada a algo que nadie mide es el mecanismo del humor inglés escrito.
  6. What does the final paragraph do?Contradicts the whole articleLimits the claim and admits doubtProposes a concrete solutionLimits the claim and admits doubt — «None of which is an argument for indolence…» acota, y «is, admittedly, another question entirely» reconoce que el problema queda abierto.

Ejercicio 2 · Vocabulario C1

Completa con la palabra exacta del texto.

  1. There is a ___ shame attached to idleness.peculiar — aquí no es «raro» sino «particular, propio de». Falso amigo de nivel alto.
  2. The answer will almost ___ be a list.invariably — «sin excepción». Adverbio de frecuencia culto, muy útil en writing de C1.
  3. The Victorians, whose reputation for ___ is deserved…industry — aquí significa «laboriosidad», no «industria». Otro falso amigo clásico.
  4. Insight tends to arrive during periods of ___ inactivity.apparent — «aparente». Matiza: parece inactividad pero no lo es.
  5. An argument for ___ as a way of life.indolence — pereza, en registro culto. El adjetivo es indolent.
  6. A moral ___ to be confessed.failing — defecto, falta moral. Distinto de failure, que es un fracaso.

Qué se te pide de verdad en C1

Cuenta los recursos de distancia que usa el autor: peculiar, largely, apparent, whether or not, admittedly, not merely. El texto casi nunca afirma sin matizar, y las preguntas van justo a esos matices, no a los hechos.

Estrategia concreta: cuando una pregunta empieza por What does the writer suggest / imply / feel, la respuesta nunca está en una frase de datos. Está en un adjetivo o un adverbio. Búscalos.

Baja a B2 si te ha costado, o mira las estrategias de reading.

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